The Frenchmen hold winning records over the Canadians. Benneteau defeated Shapovalov in straight sets earlier this season in Marseille, and Mahut defeated Pospisil in their only career meeting in 2012.

Both of their first round matches will be played on Monday, October 30.

2. Top seed Nadal eyes another record

World no. 1 Rafa Nadal returns to the Rolex Paris Masters for the first time since 2015 and will be the top seed this week.

If Nadal wins Paris he will hold 31 Masters titles and set a new ATP record. What is also important to note here is that, if Nadal were to win Paris, he just needs the Miami Open to complete the Golden Masters Series – achieved by winning each of the nine Masters 1000 tournaments at least once.

3. Popcorn match-ups

There’s a fun all-French clash between Richard Gasquet and Benoit Paire in the first round.

In the second round, Mischa Zverev could meet top seed Rafa Nadal. Two more fun second round potential matches include Grigor Dimitrov vs. Richard Gasquet and a US Open rematch between Denis Shapovalov and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

4. Final push for London

Rafa Nadal, Roger Federer, Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Grigor Dimitrov, and Marin Cilic have already booked their spot at the Nitto ATP Finals in London this November. Only two spots remain and they will be filled in Paris.

Juan Martin del Potro is among the favourites to qualify after winning the title in Stockholm and reaching the final in Basel. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, David Goffin and Pablo Carreno Busta also have their sights set on one of the final two spots.